Jesus asked this to show that the Pharisees were careful about the wrong thing. They washed the outside of the cup and platter, but their "inward part" was "full of ravening and wickedness" (Luke 11:39). The God who made the outside also made the inside, so He cares about both. Barnes explains "Ye fools" as "How unwise and wicked is your conduct!" and says the word "denotes not only 'want of wisdom,' but also wickedness." He paraphrases Jesus' point: God made the body, and He also made the soul. Matthew Henry reads it two ways: the God who appointed ceremonial washings also meant them to cleanse their hearts, or, as he thinks the words rather mean, the Creator who made both body and soul expects both to be kept clean.

The answer is plain: yes, the same God made both. Jesus went on to show the way to true cleanness: "But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you" (Luke 11:41). He then pronounced woes on the Pharisees (Luke 11:42-44). One of the lawyers objected, "Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also" (Luke 11:45), and Jesus answered with woes to the lawyers (Luke 11:46-52). As He said these things, the scribes and the Pharisees began "to urge him vehemently," "seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him" (Luke 11:53-54).

The Pharisees washed before meals as a religious ceremony. Mark explains that they did not eat unless they washed, "holding the tradition of the elders," and also washed cups and pots (Mark 7:3-4). Barnes says that because people "did not use, as we do, knives and forks, but used their hands only," washing made sense, but the Pharisees "placed no small part of their religion in such ceremonies." He adds that, since Jesus had been among a crowd, "they esteemed the 'touch' of such persons polluting."

The Greek word for "fools" is aphrones, which Thayer defines as "without reason" or senseless. God uses the same word when He calls the rich man "Thou fool" in the next chapter (Luke 12:20).

This question reveals something about God. He is the Maker of the whole person, the part people see and the part only He sees. A religion that polishes the outside while ignoring the heart misunderstands the God it claims to serve. Matthew Henry writes, "We should all look to our hearts, that they may be cleansed and new-created."

Jesus did not say outward obedience was worthless. About tithing He said, "these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Luke 11:42). What He condemned was passing over "judgment and the love of God" (Luke 11:42). Matthew records a similar rebuke: "cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also" (Matthew 23:26).